American people's lush hedging began decaying (9)
I believe the answer is:
winnebago
'american' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Native American' mean 'winnebago' so perhaps 'american' could also mean 'winnebago')
'lush hedging began decaying' is the wordplay.
'lush' becomes 'wino' (I've seen this before).
'hedging' indicates putting letters inside (some letters hedge or border others).
'decaying' indicates anagramming the letters (the original order breaks down).
'began' with letters rearranged gives 'nebag'.
'wino' placed around 'nebag' is 'WINNEBAGO'.
'people's' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for winnebago that I've seen before include "Wino began badly in the motor home" , "Indian" , "camper van" , "Brave" , "Wisconsin lake" .)